Being able to spend time alone deep in thought or even doing nothing is important to many philosophical traditions. Zen monks take vows of silence and Descartes called his philosophical works the meditations. Leo Babauta chronicles a number of great thinkers from Albert Einstein to Mozart who sang the praises of solitude.
So often, solitude is also equated with nature. As a college student enamored of both Thoreau's Walden Pond and my ability to live in a walkable urban setting, I thought a lot about what solitude looks like in a modern world. All major transcendental traditions encompass the back to nature ethic, but it has always seemed too simplistic to equate rural living with solitude and simplification. Thoreau never intended his time on Walden Pond as a permanant solution, nor did he believe everyone needed to move to a cabin: his two years were intended to serve as an experiment in pealing away the needs of life to its essence. What is simple about having to drive thirty minutes by car, or having to use a septic system?
Can you find urban solitude and quiet if it means being able to use the simplest mode of transportation possible, walking, to secure your needs? Some people claim they don't mind their commute because that is their alone time to listen to music or just relax. I never feel alone when I drive: I am thinking about other cars and anticipating what is going on around me. Walking is the only mode of transportation that let's me really be alone and lost in my thought.
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